One of the most important composers of popular music in the second half of the 20th century, Burt Bacharach's sophisticated yet breezy creations borrow from cool jazz, soul, Brazilian bossa nova, and traditional pop. After having his first Top 20 hit in 1957 with "The Story of My Life," performed by Marty Robbins, his lush, poignant songs virtually defined and ultimately transcended the Brill Building pop of the 1960s. Bacharach went on to appear on the Billboard Hot 100 chart over 80 times, the vast majority of his songs were the product of his long-running partnership with lyricist Hal David. Together, they reached the Top Five with tracks like "Magic Moments" (Perry Como, 1958), "Only Love Can Break a Heart" (Gene Pitney, 1962), "I Say a Little Prayer" (Dionne Warwick, 1967), and "Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head" (B.J. Thomas) from the soundtrack to 1969's Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. Bacharach's work on that film resulted in two Academy Awards: best song and best score. In the '80s, he teamed up with Carole Bayer Sager for a run of successful songs that included the number ones "Arthur's Theme" (Christopher Cross, 1981; written with Peter Allen), and "On My Own" (Patti Labelle and Michael McDonald, 1986). "Arthur's Theme" won Bacharach a third Oscar. In 1998, the album Painted from Memory, a collaboration with Elvis Costello, launched another recurring partnership. Some of Bacharach's other writing partners over the years included the likes of Bob Hilliard and Paul Anka. Nearly 50 years after his first hit, he wrote his own lyrics for the first time for his Grammy-winning solo album At This Time, released in 2005. In 2011, the Library of Congress awarded Bacharach and David the Gershwin Prize for Popular Song. He delivered Blue Umbrella, an EP with singer/songwriter Daniel Tashian, in 2020.